Sunday, August 15, 2021

sunday questions

 


1. What subjects lead you down a Wikipedia rabbit hole? maybe historical info? none really.

2. How do you like to spend your birthdays?

in the old days, before I found illness and danger at every turn, I always wanted to go some place new for a birthday weekend. I want to feel pampered, eat good food, see new places, shop, wander

3. Something you might take a little too seriously?
 can you take climate changes too seriously? or Americans who think it's patriotic to tear down the government while begging for help from the government? Can you take a trend to greed and entitlement too seriously?

4. Describe a time you made a good decision for yourself

I have a hard time making decisions. I think of all the alternatives, do research, etc. I guess the best decision I've made is to marry my husband. I was older than most brides, and had said no to at least 5 proposals, and yet when I met him, it made sense and felt right. I asked him what marriage meant to him, and thought about it for just a day before letting myself say yes and knowing it was right!


5. Something you’ve improved/gotten better at

slightly better at not letting what people say hurt me... as much. I still care but with each passing year I care less. I always did what I believed in despite people's reactions but it kind of bothered me if they misjudged me. I always felt the way I did even if family members ran me down for it, but now I just don't listen to them.


6. What dish would you bring to a summer potluck?

thank you for a simpler question!!  I do not enjoy mass potlucks since I worry people aren't as clean with their food as they should be... I've gotten intestinal distress from these parties before. And I have food allergies to common items that could be included. I'd take something easy to eat, like finger sandwiches. Or something that won't spoil in heat. Fruit salad, or watermelon chunks maybe. Relish tray with interesting cheeses and pickles. 


7. What do you miss about Winter?

I love winter. I love being cool and hate being hot. I hate being hot (so much I said it twice) after all one can put on more clothes if they are cold.

8. Share a summer memory

growing up I would spend a month with my married sister's family each summer. It was always like a party, she lived up North (from Florida) and it was cooler, we ate grilled dinners, we played cards and games. I loved when she lived in Washington Indiana, so different from florida with cute homes and soft grass and bike riding.

9. Words you misspell or misuse the most

Mostly I've lost my southern accent but I remember someone once asking what a "fang-er" was (finger) and being trotted out like a party favor when I lived in Canada... "LeeAnna... (listen to this) say Argo!" or whatever. Mispronouncing isn't usually my problem, these days it's recall of just the right word!

When I started working in social work my unit had a secretary and when I handwrote court reports she would often come to my desk and say, Miss X, did you MEAN to spell this word like that? Oy! No ! please correct it!

10. Things you love to do, that can only happen in summer

growing vegetables in the back yard, watching flowers grow, sitting on the back porch in evenings with fairy lights along the roofline, drinking a glass of wine. I can do this in spring and fall too although we now live in harsh Colorado weather that is too hot or too cold


11. How would you describe your sense of humor?

the unexpected makes me laugh, irreverance to something in a lighthearted way, sarcastic, everyday. Kind of Jerry Seinfeld ish . DH and I make each other laugh filling in the dog's thought bubble. Going to comedy shops used to bring me joy.


12. Have you ever quit a job or career?

I have done work for a season many times. It was a happy day indeed to marry, move and have to quit social work for good. I worked as a nanny as an adult in order to live in Canada with a boyfriend for a couple years then quit to return to the states to recover from meningitis. I worked for a time at Berlitz language school teaching english to businessmen and their families but for some reason stopped. I tried working at a travel agency but never got the hang of computerized airline reservations! Then it all went do it yourself anyway.

13. What are your favorite features of your cell phone?

I am the only one on earth who isn't tied to a little tyrant of a computer/cell phone. I guess the thing I like about mine is speakers so I don't have to hold it to my ear that rings all the time. I also like the portable nature of it although it's old and the battery runs out so quickly now that I am often tethered to the cord anyway.

I'm old enough to remember house phones, sitting down to chat, playing with the spiral phone chord absentmindedly while I talked to friends. I remember not having answering machines, so if I was avoiding someone I told friends to call let it ring twice hang up and call again so I knew it was safe to answer!!

14. What scents always make you hungry?

frying onions, baked garlic bread, simmering chicken soup, freshly baked cinnamon buns

 


15. What are you working on right now?

not being in a pure panic about  the increasing effects from our pollution to the water and air supplies and weather heating up so much, the way some Americans ignore crime against the country, covid not ever being under control making me vulnerable as someone with severe reactions to the vaccine. 


Oh you mean productively?

 I am a writer and an artist now... I am working on creative pursuits. I paint and draw, I make art quilts, I write stories. I am working on learning to live in isolation for physical safety. I am working on making non boring food to eat since we don't eat out nowadays. I am trying to grow tomatoes but it's too hot for them here in our area. I'm working on sorting through possessions I've dragged around through 5 moves so the next move will be easier. I'm working on finding a way to clean wood floors... can't use the hard water here as it binds with detergents and leaves a film on them, and bona doesn't clean well enough.

working on how to exercise when the people around us are so angry that we wear masks in public. I gave up my lovely daily walks as it's too dangerous feeling to be on the sidewalks. I'm working on coping with changing technology that seems beyond my ken.

I am taking a creativity workshop online that is daily for 10 days, and am starting a writing/meditation workshop online tomorrow. Thank you to zoom and the leaders for this outreach and generous sharing.

We are working on how to find a better place to live after dh takes early retirement. This may include learning a new language which neither of us is very good at.

thanks for visiting me, it makes me feel less isolated to know I have a connection with others. 

the prompt came from SundayStealing and I am linking to them at https://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Sewing Saturday from bottles to bats

 

would you like some wine? This pattern is free from Hoffman Fabrics, and I used that turquoise in the upper right corner this month for the RSC color of the month. All from the scrap bin too.

Senor Flamingo Rose and Moonbeam Winery gewurztraminer

I have made them in all the RSC colors of the month since January and will eventually make them into a table runner

I looked at my Kaleidoscope this week and finally chose this fabric as my favorite border

However I only have a half yard and it's directional. So. Sew... it will be pieced into other fabrics I think but didn't feel like rushing it. No pics of that til it's a finished top. 

My friend Diane got me into this free mystery quilt from FatQuarterShop

and I chose to make the bats with fun black and white backgrounds and cool mostly black fabrics

see the little ants on the one on right?

I gave myself permission to use special fabrics for these, as long as I squealed in delight seeing them going together so well! Metallic gold on the ones above. 

this one has golden stars and metallic silver on black body

When the four bats were done I did the four pumpkins.  I had to look at the finished block to do the star my way, without tiny triangles cut, and planning to use sparkly white fabric for the inner star

and using fun orange prints

so when you look at their cutting instructions it is for use of ONE orange fabric, and ONE white fabric background and star. It took some effort to parse it into how many of each piece to cut when one uses a different orange each time, and a sparkly fabric for the star different from background. I also know how to make a quarter square triangle at the top, with two 4" squares instead of piecing tiny little triangles.

Anyway, the pattern is good especially if you are limiting your palette and is really cute however in taking this shot...

after all the little pieces were in and pressed I realized I got some wrong... see??? on the right pumpkin the bottom is pieced wrong which will take a lot of unpicking and moving the black triangles around. 

Oh well, keeps me off the streets

I love seeing the prints used, and am content to be using my collections in this. It might end up fairly small even though these blocks are about 10.5" square, but when they are all released and made I can decide whether to set them in the mystery directions or make a lap quilt with more halloween prints. 

I'm taking a good creativity course, free from Elizabeth Foley, each day this week. It's focus is on painting but it's informing my fabric work as well. For instance she asked Thursday, what's in your special tool kit? what supplies do you love working with, why do you love them, and what do you find yourself reaching for over and over. For instance she asked about 25 questions, which led us to realize who we were and what we need to create. One question was what makes your artwork special to you, or a signature to you.

coloring page in my calendar
My first reaction was a shrug? but once asked a question usually gets answered... For my style, I think it's

 use of many colors that are often saturated, use of light, medium and dark colors for shading, and sparkles. On paintings that means use of white ink often. In fabric that means use of different contrasting shades or use of pencils to add depth. And whimsy is good for me. I love complimentary colors to add drama to a wall hanging too. 

It was interesting to think about. Another question this week was how do you view time in relation to creativity? How do you use your time, do you allow other things to interfere in your creativity? What can you do with a small window of time? What can you do with a large block of time? What makes you more comfortable?

paint anything in 5 minutes
She has brought to our consciousness what kind of things become roadblocks to creating... fears, procrastination, priorities. Will you let everything come before even 5 minutes of creating is allowed? The questions and activities have been enlightening despite her obvious bent to the 20 somethings taking the course. 

I will try to write out some of the questions later, and we can all compare notes on our favorite tools, favorite fabric lines, go to color combinations. I noticed in the comment section when we talked of go to color choices, that we are all VERY different. One person hates orange, I happen to love the exuberance of orange, when asked our favorite pencil one woman said, sharp. 

I laughed and said, yep, me too, me too... 

Happy sewing y'all... and enjoy the other creative outlets in your life too.

LINKING WITH

 

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays

https://chrisknits.wordpress.com/ 

patchwork Sunday                    
oh Scrap Sundays 




Thursday, August 12, 2021

I Like Thursday # 257

 

It's apparently too hot for tomatoes to flower here, but my wildflowers are doing well and I am enjoying them a lot...in a pot... on the pot-io

4 bat blocks done and pumpkins are being made!

I'm doing a mystery quilt called Bats and Boos provided by FatQuarterShop... lots of fun because I'm using my stash of cool fabrics and the pattern tells you exactly what to do. Of course my fabrics might not work in the finished design but then I'll just do my own thing with the cute blocks!

 


I'm taking an online creativity workshop this week... from Elizabeth Foley (www.radiantearthstudios.com)There are guest presenters and all are giving us ways to overcome roadblocks to creativity. 

this week's coloring page on the calendar:

I like how the bottom roof came out. Layers of color. Start with ocher gold, add in yellow, red, gray shadows, and it looks like I'd like it to. Watercolor pens and pencils with water added to blend.
 

enjoying on tv:

well, the 70's are baaaack with Fantasy Island... (dvr'd it for later) I like Miracle Workers, NYC housewives, Potomac Housewives, Love Island, Big Brother, movies on Netflix, the bachelorette showed her worst side this week in the finale... I should stop watching but it's a train wreck.

Reading 

These Tangled Vines - MacLean, Julianne 

a very good story about a woman who discovers her birth father left her a vineyard... 

Listening to the 5th in series of kilts and quilts books, good to listen to in studio

The Trouble With Scotland - Griffin, Patience

I like this video a quote from this short video says their pack taught them it's okay to be friends with someone who is different from you... they taught me more about love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z-6CZrVGY8
 

fine dining... this recipe for french toast... I never liked the french toast I had as a child but this is a yummy miracle of breakfast food! 

crispy on the outside, we all three decided to finish it off in one go! I did make a half recipe, which made 5 slices. Milo wanted to know why he got only one... sorry, greed and gluttony darling!

wine we enjoyed this week was Stella Rosa Watermelon... a bit sweet with a taste of melon

 

I've been watching videos on how to look more vibrant as we age... this one was very very good for knowing just how to part your hair, how to balance an uneven face because lets face it, not many of us are perfectly symetrical!

Milo's Moments


 

"cat"??? Where!???
 I like my mama but something weird is going on here. Mama sits and stares at a little talking thing sometimes(zoom on ipad). It talks, then she talks, and sometimes the voices say "Hi Milo!" 

I mean what am I supposed to do, bark back to make Mama feel like she's not crazy for talking to it? 

This week she was talking to one, and I hear " meow!" and the word "cat", which means "small furry thing that runs away"

(Mama: Suze in Florida showed me her rescue cats and her home)



I ran to the door but didn't see any cats! I mean, Mama can't see as good as I do, like she can't see critters in our yard at night like I do.  I kept hearing "meow" and "cat" but no cats were in the yard and Mama just kept staring at the computer like she didn't care there was a cat in the yard! 

I just don't know, maybe she's gone crazy being alone too much. There is only so much a poodle can do to keep her occupied! talking to machines...

pray for her y'all.  

We have a new contributor to the "I Like " Family this week, welcome:

Kim at  http://inmywords.kimdeister.com/

and these other kind people have lists to share, please visit them to see their lists this week!

 grammajudyb.blogspot.com

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com  
 

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/    

https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/   

https://faithtrustandbreastcancer.blogspot.com/

 https://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/  

LINKING TO

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Sunday Questions for fun

 

Sunday questions from Sunday Stealing (https://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/)

1.  What is the nearest book to you?  Your Kindle does not count.

Almost Everything by Anne Lamott.

 I am reading and listening to audio books on my kindle app mostly since the shutdown however. I really like series, am listening to Laura Child's teashop mystery at the moment, while I work in the studio.

2.  When was the last time you took a "me" vacation

they're all for me or it's not a vacation. The last one was to CT, before we moved West. My favorites were our yearly visit to Lake Placid. Best work related vacay was to Santa Barbara when dh was offered a job there.

3.  How many telephone numbers do you have?

not as many as some people, but I have the numbers of good friends who are fun to talk to and service providers we might need

4.  If you could fix one thing in the public school system, what is the one thing you would do immediately?
teach critical thinking skills. Americans seem to have stumbled in how to use factual information and decide if info is reputable or someone's hidden agenda. For instance when many police officers testify the same thing and there is real footage of same event that corroborates it, then it happened.


5.  What's your favorite Olympic event?

Curling... then skating and now artistic swimming! Did you catch that? All the fab costumes and athleticism needed to stay upside down in the water, not breathing while in danger of being given a concussion from being kicked in the head? Awesome!

6.  Do you watch the Olympics?

always. I love the odd events and always try to see some of each thing. This year sailing was new to me, canoe thru rapids, fencing (why the screaming) skateboarding (are you kidding me?) and rhythmic gymnastics (adults playing with hula hoops) all new to me. I enjoy learning about countries I've never heard of, seeing the joy of an athlete doing their best, and the NZ team doing a Haka after winning soccer. 

7.  Who is your favorite sports team player?

The footballer Rashad Jennings who was on the dating game recently, has such nice manners, is pretty outstandingly attractive, was on Dancing with the stars, wrote a book and is studying to be a marriage counselor. He's got it all. I never saw him play football!

8.  If you could travel in a spaceship to any planet, which planet would you like to visit and why?

ewww none.... earth is all I can handle and I can't handle it well now that the climate has gone crazy from humans

9.  When was the last time you sat in a church?

a grief ceremony at a church in Newport RI while we were on a long weekend visit. We had just lost our beloved poodle Cole, our son for 14 years. The minister was lovely to us. 

I pray and am a Christian but organized religions are not for me. Again, I believe in critical thinking skills and pray for guidance, but do not want another human to tell me how to be a good person, or that I'm not. That was my experience, and I even went to a church college one year. I believe each person seeking God will find God.

10.  Are there any aspects of blogging that annoy you?

Blogger has made it all much harder than it was when I began, so that sometimes it's a struggle to even post. I am down to basically two posts a week, a list of things I liked that week on Thursdays, and artistic offerings on Saturdays. And I do love doing the questions here, and the others who answer them too.

11. Have you ever gone to a party and snooped in the medicine cabinet? no, too busy meeting people, dancing, eating and drinking for that!

12.Do you watch reality TV? Oh I love many of them. Reality tv is really news shows though, the others are competition shows with real people and I enjoy watching them. I also love the Bravo Housewives franchises. Otherwise I like Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol, Jeopardy, Bachelor, Making it, Project Runway, Top Chef, lots.

13.  How many people can you call who have known you since you were in school?

I really only keep up with one, we've been friends since 4th grade all through high school, college years and today. I keep up with one I taught alongside as well.

14. Who, when, and where was your first kiss?

speaking of first grade... Ricky P. kissed me by the fence at recess! We met again years later as teachers and he remembered it too! Otherwise, if you mean romantically... I can't remember really but suspect it was high school. I remember who I learned how to really kiss with, a band member and church friend Dennis... we practiced and I think we could have won a contest.

15. You just got thrown out of your country.  Where do you want to become a citizen?

Canada first. I loved living there for a while and loved the people I met there. Next, we've thought about moving to France, not Paris, somewhere quiet. 

When I found out I was adopted I found out my birth father was first gen American from Italian family so I'd like to try living there and finding family. Earl Cerone was his name I think but my spelling is no doubt wrong, do you know him?

 

Sewing Saturday

 

I have been mostly sewing on the kaleidoscope quilt this week and would rather wait to show you the top finished. So.... these are two little sweaters in the color of the month, sort of since it's hard to identify. I think Angela at rainbow scrap challenge said turquoise or aqua or something between blue and green. 

When I looked it up, I read the color cyan is a mix of blue and green and there is talk of it here

https://colorpsychologymeaning.com/color-turquoise/

My favorite shirt falls in this color range, and I love turquoise  in general. The page above says if one really likes this color :

"They’re more interested in doing their own thing and self expression rather than trying to fit in with or follow the crowd. Even though they’re bright colors that stands out, a wearer would probably not be looking for attention, simply wishing to express themselves without looking for the approval or opinions of others.You have an ability to see things clearly and objectively, you don’t let personal biases affect your decisions or way of thinking.

You find focusing on one task at a time boring, you prefer to undertake multiple tasks."

which brings me back to this week's post! 


 

While making decisions about the direction this would go, and it's difficult sometimes to make a choice as it then limits the choice making! Does that make sense to you? Until I make a choice it's all open to me... but I also love to finish things so after a lot of auditions of different blues, 

they all have a different tone... and this isn't all I tried!
 I chose  two to look like a bright autumn sky, and think I want the border pretty simple so I can focus on the center. 

 while pondering these decisions I started sewing leftover strata together for fun

My little bin is AQUA too!

for instance when cutting out the strata for one piece with a dash of bright yellow, these little shards were left. 

Of course I kept them!

note their size against the 1" grid above. I kept sewing them together til that ADORABLE little flower like thing emerged. This might me my favorite surprise. 
they aren't all the same size but I just sewed them together and loved seeing the fabrics in larger amounts. Ricky Tims Kaleidoscope pattern requires that you let go and let the pieces fall where they may, and enjoy the ride. I was sad that some pretty fabrics came down to a splash of color however the whole thing on my wall is breathtaking to me! Can't wait to show you the top finished! 
 
when looking at the cutaway leftovers, I decided to trim some down to a diamond shape, and wanted them all the same angles and sizes so I got out the temporary tape to tell me where to cut

 

not sure what this will be yet but I like the way this looks for something.

so I basically move the bits around til I get a little excited feeling from them, and sometimes sew them without plan, sometimes trim into a shape like the diamond. They will turn into something for sure.
 

I have 25- 60 degree diamonds to turn into a runner, a lot of small wedges like above to turn into starlike fans to put into something, three  improv  pieces that could be mug rugs for fall. 

 I have sandwiched the purple mountain piece, the 9-patch runner, and the green and purple floral improv so they are all waiting to be over-quilted! I had to do the kaleidoscope this week since the class was going on (I think you can find the sessions on youtube now) but there's a lot of fun ahead. 

It's still very hot and summer but fall will come eventually and I love those colors too

wildflower seeds in a big pot

So this week was one of using my stash of larger fabrics in the strata, then one of using the "new" scraps from that piece, plus getting ready to quilt some work from last month. I listened to two books on audio while sewing this week so I'm "reading too" and caught a good bit of Olympics as well. 

Did you see the artistic swimming? Now the bizarre rhythmic gymnastics is going.

Women multitask

                                                                     Linking with
patchwork Sunday                    
oh Scrap Sundays 
                                                                scrap happy Saturdays

Thursday, August 5, 2021

I Like Thursday # 256

 

Welcome to this week's list of likes... I love the wildflowers growing from seeds sown in a pot on the patio...

We have an app that tells you what a flower is, the pink ones are something called mountain garland, the blue is cornflower or bachelor buttons, the yellow are coreopsis, the beautiful white I'm not sure but they are so fresh!

Speaking of fresh we love reisling in summer:

I loved the bottle of reisling we  tried recently...

wouldn't it make a fine quilting pattern? 

I am LOVING the synchronized swimming competitions! From the pairs prancing out in unison before starting to the athleticism required to thrust a swimmer out of the water without touching the bottom of the pool, to the extreme costumes of sparkles! Maybe it's the fact they come out of the water without being wet... how do they do that?I watched the pairs but then caught this USA team on youtube


Watching on TV

We watched episodes of Miracle Workers, Book club (on BBC) and I am enjoying Love Island, Big Brother, Bachelorette, Housewives on Bravo, and being able to watch Olympic events on demand on cable.  I saw wonderful gymnastics, horse dressage, canoe (kayak) thru rapids, and that really dramatic synchronized swimming.

hearing books read aloud to me while I am in studio

just finished this and it was really good... the reader was fun, the story line enjoyable, characters were believable... set in England, mystery at a hat shop

 

also finished listening to

 

 speaking of studio time, I've been working on my Fall kaleidoscope and at first I didn't like it but now I love it... more on Saturday hopefully... these are some leftover scraps from making it...

there is too much waste in the kaleidoscope by Ricky Tims but it's awesome once made! I'll use those scraps, in fact while piecing the fussy cut pattern, I took breaks to play with the odd leftover pieces! 

Keeps me off the streets

speaking of small things to like, I dither too much over fabric choices so I'm happy I was able to decide what to border the quilt with (like matting a painting to my non quilting friends) so I can finish it!

 fine dining

a few recipes, first an appetizer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmHeB20d0QE

this is good, oats, eggs, vegetables, milk... we decided it was a fine breakfast and had it all week! I changed buttermilk for the milk, and regular flour for the oat flour but used whole oats as called for. 

 

The other dining experiment was  dh's birthday cake full of sugar and chocolate! 

By far the BEST chocolate cake I've ever made or eaten.

 Moist with good texture:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/buttermilk-cocoa-cake/

uses buttermilk in the cake and icing. The icing was too much for us, way too much. The whole cake is full of butter and sugar.... unhealthy but a perfect birthday treat! 

next recipe is OLD SCHOOL teacakes. My grandmother always had these on hand when I came to visit and I adored them... sort of sweet, sort of like a cross between a cookie and a biscuit.


 haven't tried them yet but I will...

 

we watched a movie Saturday night... we started two others first.
 The first one looked great but was only in Africans so we turned to the next movie that turned out to be  geared to kids. The third one: Kodachrome was excellent!

Kodachrome (2017) - IMDb

 was very good. It tackled real life feelings, growth, finding meaning and humor in dire circumstances. The three lead actors were wonderfully real. Both of us were engrossed in the story line. 

I miss using film actually... 


how some critters cool off in this heat

first get a baby pool...


Kisses are good...

Milo's Moments

Hiya Mama!
 I like lots of things including tugowar with Mama because I always win!

Mama: mayben not this time since you've pulled the skin off I have a handle!
Milo: good point but I do have three rings, heh heh. I always win!!!

Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits

each day Milo comes up for the ritual of my dressing for the day. Like my other poodle Cole he watched and sized me up to see what the day would bring by my choice of clothing.

Milo: okay... I see how this is shaping up... shorts, t-shirt, no socks... we're staying home again today right? 

Mama: it's our new normal so yep. 

Milo: oh. I guess this means no rideinnacar. No craft festivals or trips or walks some place new

Mama: right. It's not safe. Even vaccinated people are carrying around the virus in their noses with no symptoms to warn us, so they can transmit it to people like Mama with immune issues so... home again. (hugging Milo, and giving him a pet)

Milo:Mama! You've got lotion on your hands!!! Now I smell like a human, ewwww! I tole you 'bout that... no touching the poodle with lotion hands!

Mama: well no one will know since we'll be home again

please visit these people with lists of likes too! Join us, or one of the other link parties keeping it happy!

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com  
 

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/    

https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/   

https://faithtrustandbreastcancer.blogspot.com/

LINKING TO

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/

rosie and the boys nature pics 

  friday smiles at a stitch in time

https://brianshomeblog.com/ 
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/